Personal history written by Matilda Andersson Levine
I was born December 3, 1885 in Witsjofle Sweden. My parents were Per Anderson and Elna Olson Anderson. I had a brother Swen, who was 14 years older than me ((Swen's birthday was June 3). I also had a sister, Emma, who was born September 29, 1888.
We lived on a small farm in the town of Varmland. Here I spent my childhood days helping Dad do the farm work. I also milked cows from the neighbors who had a big farm.
When I was a little girl our first home was destroyed by fire. All our belongings were lost. Mother was baking bread in a big outdoor oven when the fire started. Her eyesight was greatly impaired by the smoke so she was only able to see her way around to do her work and get around outdoors. She couldn't distinguish objects like money at close range.
She was a small frail woman with small features and dark hair. She died of pneumonia February 25, 1920 at the age of 73 years.
My mother made cloth from cotton raised on her farm. She hired a dressmaker to make clothes for the family. I made my own clothes.
The country where I lived was beautiful--we lived near the ocean and close to a big forest. We went through this forest on our way to school. My father was a forester--he was allowed to cut and use wood for fuel. Our home was of wood with a thatched roof.
We attended school up to the 8th grade. After this we attended a church school conducted by a priest where we studied the Bible. We were of the Lutheran Faith. After a year's study we went to school 6 days a week all grades in one room--one teacher. I was about 15 years old at this time.
In the year ____ two missionaries, Carl W. Pierson and Wilford Poulson, came to preach about the L.D.S. church. They were always welcome at our home and spent much time there while laboring in that part of the country. Our home had several rooms for sleeping-the missionaries stayed there often and also held meetings in our home. My father and the rest of the family were very interested in the gospel and were converted. We were baptized in a river by Elder Wilford Poulson.
My father sold his farm and home and left Sweden with my mother, myself and sister, Emma May 6, 1906. It took us three weeks to make the trip to Salt Lake. [We] arrived in Salt Lake June 6, 1906.
There was some question about getting my mother through the immigration office on account of her eyesight. We were accompanied on the trip over by the missionaries Carl Pierson and Wilford Poulson, who assisted us as we didn't know the language. We were met by another missionary from West Jordan who had returned earlier. His name was Lawrence Pearson. We stayed at his home in West Jordan for several weeks while father was locating a place to live in Sandy.
We moved to a little farm near 7th East in Sandy where my parents lived until mother's death in 1920. My father lived in the red home a short while after her death. Then he went [on] a short mission to Sweden. He returned home for a short time and then went back to Sweden. Here he lived a number of years with a nephew and family. He died [on] February 20, 1936.
When we moved in our new home our Swedish friends had a surprise party for us. Here I met my future husband, Ivan Levine, and his mother, Sophia Levine. They boarded with a Dahlberg family in
Sandy. I also met Ida Dahlberg at this party.